"I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos | ||||
from the album I've Got a Tiger by the Tail | ||||
B-side | "Cryin' Time" | |||
Released | December 28, 1964 (U.S.) | |||
Recorded | December 1, 1964 Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:13 | |||
Label | Capitol 5336A | |||
Songwriter(s) | Harlan Howard and Buck Owens | |||
Producer(s) | Ken Nelson | |||
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos singles chronology | ||||
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"I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" is a song made famous by country music band Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Released in December 1964, the song was one of Owens' signature songs and showcases of the Bakersfield sound in the genre. In 1999, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. [1]
In 1965, Dave Berry used "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" as the B-side of his single "Little Things" and the single reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.
Owens — in the liner notes to The Buck Owens Collection: 1959-1990 — recalled that he and songwriter Harlan Howard had gotten together to write songs, but things were going slowly. Then, Owens saw an Esso gas station sign with the company's slogan at the time, "Put a tiger in your tank" ... and got an idea. [2]
Released in December 1964 (just weeks after he had recorded it), "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail" was Owens' and the Buckaroos sixth No. 1 hit on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in February 1965. The song is Owens' and the Buckaroos biggest hit (and only top-40 hit) on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 25, [3] although its five weeks atop the chart made it far from Owens' biggest hit on the country charts — several of his other No. 1 songs spent anywhere from six to 16 weeks at No. 1. [4]
Waylon Jennings covered the song and included it on his album Waylon Sings Ol'_Harlan which was released by RCA Records in 1967.
New Riders of the Purple Sage covered the song at live gigs during the early 70s. A rare recording can be found on Bear's Sonic Journals: Dawn of the New Riders of the Purple Sage (released 2020). [5]
Chart (1964-1965) | Peak position |
---|---|
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles | 1 |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 25 |
Canadian RPM Top Singles | 12 |
Harlan Perry Howard was an American songwriter, principally in country music. In a career spanning six decades, Howard is credited with writing more than 4,000 songs, over 100 of which reached country music's Top 10.
"Act Naturally" is a song written by Johnny Russell, with a writing credit given to Voni Morrison and publishing rights transferred to Buck Owens. It was originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1963, his first chart-topper. In 2002, Shelly Fabian of About.com ranked the song number 169 on her list of the Top 500 Country Music Songs.
"Heartaches by the Number" is a popular country song written by Harlan Howard, and published in 1959. The sheet music was a best seller in both the US and Britain in January 1960.
Waylon Sings Ol' Harlan is a 1967 album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor. It consists completely of songs by Harlan Howard.
The Ramblin' Man is a studio album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released on RCA Victor in 1974.
"Together Again" is a 1964 song by American country singer and guitarist Buck Owens.
Doyle Floyd Hendricks, known by the stage name Doyle Holly, was an American musician best known as the bass guitar player of the country music band Buck Owens and the Buckaroos and for his solo hit songs "Queen Of The Silver Dollar" and "Lila". Holly's contributions on bass guitar and rhythm guitar were a key component of the Bakersfield sound. The Buckaroos had more than 30 Top 40 singles on the country music charts in the 1960s and early 1970s, with 21 number one hits such as "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail," "Love's Gonna Live Here,"and "Act Naturally." Their sound influenced later artists such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jackson Browne, The Eagles, The Derailers and the Desert Rose Band.
"Crying Time" is a song from 1964 written and originally recorded by the American country music artist Buck Owens. It gained greater success in the version recorded by Ray Charles, which won two Grammy Awards in 1967. Numerous other cover versions have been performed and recorded over the intervening years.
The discography of Buck Owens, an American country music artist, consists of 39 studio albums, 16 compilation albums, 9 live albums, 97 singles, and 12 B-sides. After recording under the name Corky Jones and releasing a string of singles in the mid-1950s, Owens signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in February 1957.
Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard is an album by Buck Owens, released in 1961.
I've Got a Tiger by the Tail is an album by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, released in 1965. It reached Number one on the Billboard Country charts and Number 43 on the Pop Albums charts.
Best of Buck Owens, Vol. 2 is a compilation album by Buck Owens, released in 1968.
"Streets of Bakersfield" is a 1973 song written by Homer Joy and popularized by Buck Owens. In 1988, Owens recorded a duet version with country singer Dwight Yoakam, which became one of Yoakam's first No. 1 Hot Country Singles hits.
"The Chokin' Kind" is a 1967 song written by Nashville songwriter Harlan Howard. Country music artist Waylon Jennings recorded the original version and released it as a single in 1967. It peaked at number eight on the US Hot Country Singles chart. Jennings featured the track on his 1967 album Hangin' On. R&B artist Joe Simon covered the song in 1969, earning a Grammy Award.
"Love's Gonna Live Here" is a 1963 single by Buck Owens, who also wrote the song. The single would be Buck Owens' second number one on the country charts spending sixteen weeks at the top spot and a total of thirty weeks on the chart.
"Think of Me" is a song by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos, and included on their Open Up Your Heart (album) in 1966. It was written by Don Rich and Estrella Olson. The single reached number one on the country charts and stayed at the top for six weeks. "Think of Me" spent a total of twenty weeks on the country charts. "Think of Me" also peaked at number 74 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Love Bug", also spelled "Lovebug," is a song by American country music artist George Jones. Jones' version, which also features a young Johnny Paycheck on backup vocals and draws heavily from the Bakersfield sound as popularized by Buck Owens, reached #6 on Country Songs|Hot Country Singles]] chart in 1965. It was released on his July 1965 New Country Hits album and then re-released as the lead song for his 1966 album of the same name, Love Bug.
Ralph Eugene Mooney was an American steel guitar player and songwriter, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, The Strangers and Waylon Jennings's band, The Waylors.
This is a list of Billboard magazine's ranking of the year's top country singles of 1965.